In the spirit of diplomacy—think Sadat going to Israel, Nixon to China, or Obama to Congress—the Reader recently paid a visit to an UNO charter school.
To his credit Rangel hit us right back, posting a link to the piece on his Facebook page with his own snarky wisecrack: “I usually don’t promote the rants of people who despise charter schools, who are knee-jerk UNO haters or who just plain loathe successful Hispanics, but this week’s Chicago Reader made me LMAO…. Check it out! If you want a hard copy, you can find one in any gentrified neighborhood where Hispanics have been displaced.”
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And so on a recent weekday morning we drive down to a predominantly Hispanic southwest side neighborhood of bungalows—except for the mansionlike complex that 14th Ward alderman Ed Burke built behind a fence paid for with public funds. Burke, by the way, is another UNO ally.
In the front is a red, six-foot-high steel UNO logo, impossible to miss for anyone driving down 51st or flying above in a rocket to the moon. We’re greeted in the lobby by Rangel, a squat man with a soul patch who wears an impeccable suit. He’s accompanied by his press aide and Miguel d’Escoto, UNO’s senior vice president, who served as city transportation commissioner under Daley. They immediately take us on a tour that’s been given to numerous other reporters and columnists in town. Hey, better late than never.
If it sounds like he’s telling us that these public institutions have failed the Hispanic community, that’s because he is: “They could do better.”
The Soccer Academy now has about 580 students—about 32 per classroom. All together, more than 5,400 students are enrolled in UNO schools. Rangel admits that UNO pays teachers less than unionized teachers make in regular schools, but says that’s because charters aren’t getting enough taxpayer funding.
“I think people get our community wrong,” Rangel says. “It’s too easy to paint this whole community a certain way. I hate the term ‘people of color.’ This is a great community. This is not some permanent underclass.”
